Myths and Legends of the World

Moloch

Moloch, or Molech, was a god to whom some cultures of the ancient Near
East sacrificed children. Some scholars have identified Moloch with
Melqart, a god worshiped in the city of Tyre on the eastern coast of the
Mediterranean Sea.

Roman sources state that a sculpture of Moloch stood in Carthage, a city
in northern Africa. The people who performed
the sacrifices there placed children on the outstretched hands of the
statue, and the children fell through to fire below. According to the
Bible, the law given to Moses by the supreme god Yahweh prohibited the
Jews from sacrificing children to Moloch. Nevertheless, King Solomon
introduced the
cult
of Moloch into Israel, but a later king banned worship of the god.
Moloch's shrine was located at a site outside Jerusalem named Gehenna,
which some Christians used as another name for hell.